How you’re actually meant to pronounce Princess Eugenie’s name
Weird and wonderful names dominate the celebrity sphere - but with unique monikers comes the difficulty of people outside your circle having to pronounce them.
While traditional royal names, like Charlotte, Elizabeth, and Victoria, are extremely easy for English speakers to pronounce, some others, like Leilani, Kiani and even Regina, can be a bit trickier.
Another royal alias that has had fans puzzled since 1990 is Princess Eugenie, Mrs Jack Brooksbank.
The youngest daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, has a particularly difficult name to pronounce; in the past, she admitted that her friends don’t even call her by it.
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Princess Eugenie of York, born on March 30 at Portland Hospital in London, is named after her great-aunt Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and later Queen of Spain.
The 35-year-old also has two middle names: Victoria and Helena.
The former honours her great-great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, while Helena pays tribute to one of Victoria’s daughters.
According to William Hill, they’d taken thousands of bets from fans on what the royal baby would be called ahead of the announcement - none of which cited Eugenie.
At her birth, she was sixth in line to the British throne. She has since dropped to twelfth in the line of succession.
How to pronounce Princess Eugenie’s name
People have been known to refer to the royal as ‘YOO-jee-nee’, ‘YOO-junny’, as well as the name’s male counterpart, Eugene (Yoo-JEEN).
In a 2008 interview with The Telegraph, it was reported that Eugenie was pronounced ‘YOO-juh-nee’.
If you’re saying it out loud, then make sure to put emphasis on the ‘yoo’.
The Princess of York has previously admitted she’s not too fussed about people saying her name wrong, telling the outlet: “Whenever we used to meet foreign people who were struggling with it, my mum and I would help them by saying, 'It's like Use Your Knees.'
“But whatever. I am now used to every pronunciation.”
The royal also said that many of her friends don’t actually use her given name at all - preferring instead to call her ‘Youj’ or ‘Bouj’.
What goes into a royal name?
When royals name their offspring, they must follow a handful of rules.
These include not giving their child an official surname and often bestowing on them at least three first names.
For example, Princess Eugenie’s son, August Philip Hawke, and all three of the Prince and Princess of Wales’ children have three monikers.
It is possible to give your royal child more names, with William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, having four each.
Further down the line of succession you are, the ‘more likely you are to have a more unique or untraditional name’, said Carolyn Harris, professor of history at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies and author of Raising Royalty: 1,000 Years of Royal Parenting.
And while the monarch doesn’t have to give their approval, they're usually told beforehand.
This meeting, which is usually informal, has taken place numerous times - including when Andrew and Sarah announced they’d be naming their second daughter, Beatrice, Princess of York, ‘Annabel’.
It’s alleged the late monarch Queen Elizabeth II thought ‘Annabel’ too yuppie, with the then-new parents landing on Beatrice Elizabeth Mary after her guidance.
Debate sparked about Prince Louis’ name
The pronouncement of Princess Eugenie’s name isn’t the only royal child to leave fans scratching their heads.
When Prince Louis was born in 2018, the youngest child of Kate Middleton and William baffled social media users; they didn’t know how ‘Louis’ should sound.
Some said they should be calling him ‘Lew-is’, akin to F1 driver Lewis Hamilton, while others claimed ‘LOO-i’, like fashion brand Louis Vuitton, sounded better.
The young Prince is officially named after Lord Louis Mountbatten, the uncle of the late Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who was assassinated by the IRA.
This means the correct pronunciation is ‘Loo-ee’, with a silent S.
His full name and title are Louis Arthur Charles, Prince of Wales.
Topics: Prince Andrew, Royal Family, UK News, Prince Louis, Celebrity
Ella Scott